This year for Ben's 12th birthday he decided instead of birthday presents he would collect much needed school supplies and jeans for an orphanage in the Dominican Republic . It was SO rewarding to see and visit personally the kids that received the donations. 
The children at Niños de Cristo come from all over the Dominican Republic: from villages to the west near the Haitian border and to the east including La Romana. They come from a variety of background situations ranging from being orphaned to abandonment, or having a parent in prison, or a parent with serious mental illness, or a parent having no resources to support the child. Many of the children have been sexually abused and have been taken in at the request of police, courts, or government agencies. There are several brothers and sisters.
These two little girls I was holding wouldn't let me put them down! So cute but heartbreaking. It is nearly impossible to adopt any of these children. Most of them do not have birth certificates & Dominican law restricts adoption for different reasons.
Ben playing soccer with some of the boys.
They LOVED playing with our hair. They kept smelling it :)
I really need to learn Spanish...all the kids only spoke Spanish. Our kids surprised me at how much they knew.
Chris enjoying Spanish conversation with the kids
Music was playing and Ben was trying to get them to dance! So funny, they just looked at him weird.
When Baylie first walked in they thought she was Hannah Montana...we had to really convince them that she was not Miley Cyrus either! So cute.
The kids really wanted to hold your hand, sit on your lap, touch and play with your hair all the time. They loved the attention. I hated to leave.
Our kids said by far this was the best day of any vacation they have ever had. What a great testament of how serving others really does make you happy.
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